Refrigerator



July 1, 1941. R. H. TULL REFRIGERATOR Filed July 20, 1933 2 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR Rosam- H. TULL.

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ATTOR Y designates a cabinet of 'ofthhstoragcspace ,lner shell It and heat Patented July 1, 1941 UNITED STAT-E PATENT 3;

. nnrnmnna'roa 1 mm'n- Till, i l cld, Masa, a-lgnor to use Electric & Manufacturing Compony, East Pittsburgh. 2a., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July so. me, Serial No. s zoso'z 5 Claim TCL BS- IDZ) This invention relates to refrigerators, and particularly to refrigerators, of the two wherein the air in the refrigerated storage chamber is forcibly circulated therein.

One object of the invention is toprovide a refrigerator of the forced. convection type inv which-the refrigerated storage chamber is maintained at a high humidity.

Another object is to provide a refrigerator inwhichthe air circulation is uniform in all parts of the storage chamber.

Another object is to apportion and arrange the various elements of the refrigerator to make a large portion of the refrigerated chamber available for foodstorage. e

. These and other objects are eifected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken ,in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application. which show a reach-in cooler. The invention. however, is not limited to this specific embodiment, as it is applicable to numerous other types of refrigerated chambers.

In the drawin s. Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the cabinet on the line 1-! of I'll. 2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the cabinet drawings. nmnerah il construc on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1. -Referring now to the conventional tion which comprises an divides the cabinet ll into an upperrefrlgerated food storage chamber ll and a lower machinev compartment ii. The bottom edges ll ofthe secured-to their lower surfaces to form feet on which the cabinet it rests.

On the upper surface of II is a platform ll upon which is secured a re-- frigcrant iiqu'efying unit I! of the well-known compressor-condenser type. The remaining portion of the lowercompartment it is partitioned off to provide as!!! storage'spacc 'lkaccess to which may be had by means of a door'll formthe closure for an opening in thefront wall It comprises an ininsulating material 2; between the adiacentportions of the shell I I and The food storage 'the partition II. .An openin zeinthe fro'ntwall' outer shell it and a r horizontal partition I! therein. .Ihe partition it .a cooling unit-or vaporator 3| is located in the tone! the storage chamber is which unit is of a sine substantially equal to the horizontal cross-sectional area of the chamber. The unit II is secured in the .foodstorage chamber in a slightly inclined position so that a tapered air space remains above the cooling unit ii. The

" cooling unit Il comprises a series of parallel and spaced-apart fins 32 through which a tube 33 passes back and forth in a single layer. The tube communicates through ducts 3i and 35 with the refrigerant liquefying unit is.

' Below and parallel to the cooling unit is a series of Z-shaped channels 38, which channels overlap but are spaced from one another to permit the passage of air therebetween; These channels 38 catch the water which condenses and dripsfrom the cooling unit ll and conduct this water to a trough 31 from which it drains through a tube a passing through the refrigerated chamher if into a pan 3! located in the bottom thereprovide a space shell H are turned inwardly andbiock's II are 3 the 'inturned edges :and upon v ing a false (if. A drain pipe ll connects with the pan 3! but has its entrance opening 42 located somewhat above the bottom of the pan 38 so that the latter retains ,asm'all amount of water 4! to humidify the air in the refrigerated cham- The edges of the pan 3! are turned inwardly them rests a foraminated plate formbottom it inthe refrigerated chamber ii. The false bottom 0 is supported above the surface of the water ll in the pan 3! to 44 through which air may be circulated. a

Connected with this space 44 is an inlet conduit 4! of a blower element comprisinga casing It, afan l1, and a motor 48 for driving the fan 41.

-Thefan l1 draws the air from the space M and passesit through a vertical duct 49 located in the refrigerated compartment, through a 4 divergent adapter 5| to the larger end of the tapered air space above the cooling unit II.

From here the air flows through thecooling unit 3|, through the spaces between the Z-shaped channels 30, through the refrigerated chamber 21. and a hinged door 28 therein provide for ac:-

cess to the chamber". Also in the chamber "(are shelves 2,! for supporting the articles of food to b refrigerated' I pered air II; throughv the foraminations in the false bottom ll, and over the water '40 in the pan it where it is humidified and then recirculated by the fan 41;

The fins 32 of the cooling unit ii are at right angles to the general flow of the air in the taspace and deflect the air downwardly'inthe shbrtest path through the cooling unit 3|. The air is thus in contact with thecoolin unit .3] for only a short period of time and is consequently cooled through only a few degrees of temperature on each passage through the abstracted by the cooling unit ll, and the humidity of the air in the chamber 25 will consequently be relatively high. Because of this high humidity, fruits, vegetables, meats, and similar moisture containing foods will retain their condition and their palatable appearance when stored in therefrigerator.

The large area of the cooling unit also permits of its being maintained at a higher temperature and at a correspondingly higher suction pressureso that the power consumption refrigerating apparatus is decreased.

The large air collecting area formed by the of the false bottom {3 of the refrigerated chamber II a and the large air discharging area at the top of the refrigerated chamber l3 provides for uniformity of air flow and consequently also of temperature throughout this space.

From the above it will be apparent that this invention provides a high humidity refrigerator, the temperature of which will be uniform throughout the refrigerated chamber. It will also be apparent that a large portion of the refrigerated chamber is available for the storage of foods.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: a

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a chamber, a flat, substantially horizontal cooling unit therein and adjacent to but spaced from the top thereof, said cooling unit cooperating with the walls of said chamber to prevent passage of substantial quantities of air around the edges of the cooling unit, a multiplicity of closely-spaced transverse air passages substantially throughout the flat surface of the cooling unit, a duct communicating with the lower portion of the chamber and with the space between the cooling unit and the top of the chamber and means for forcibly propelling air upwardly through said duct, said air traveling downwardly and substantially uniformly through all of the air passages ofthe cooling imit.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination 'of a chamber, a hat, substantially horizontal cooling unit therein and adjacent to but spaced from the top thereof, said cooling unit extending substantially to the vertical walls of the chamber, a multiplicity of closely-spaced vertical air passages substantially throughout the flat surface of the cooling unit, a duct communicating with the lower portion of the chamber-and with the space between the top of the chamber and the cooling unit, said space being substantially devoid of any obstruction to the flow of air toward the cooling unit, and means for propelling air upwardly through said duct, the air. thereafter traveling downwardly and subtantially uniformly through the vertical air passages of the cooling unit.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a chamber, a flat, substantially horizontal cooling unit therein and adjacent to but spaced from thetop thereof, said cooling unit cooperatingwith the walls of said chamber to prevent passage of substantial quantities of air around the edges of the cooling unit, a multlplicity'of closely-spaced substantially vertical air passages throughout the flat surface of the cooling unit, a duct communicating with a large area adjacent the bottom of said cabinet and with the space between the top of the chamber and the cooling unit, said space communicating directly with substantially all of the vertical air passages of the cooling unit, and means for propelling air through said duct said air traveling through all of the air passages of the cooling unit substantially uniformly.

4. In a refrigerator, the combination of a j tal cooling unit therein and adjacent to but spaced from the top thereof, a multiplicity of closely-spaced vertical air passages substantially throughout the flat surface of the cooling unit, a drip collector below said cooling unit, said drip collector comprising spaced-apart troughs, a duct communicatingwith the lower portion of the chamber and with the space above thecooling unit and means for propelling air upwardly through said duct, the air thereafter traveling downwardly substantially uniformly through the vertical air passages in the cooling unit, said cooling unit cooperating with the walls of said cabinet and with said duct to prevent downward e of said air aroundthe edges of the cooling unit.

5. In a refrigerator, the combination of a chamber, a large, flat and substantially horizon- 'tal cooling unit therein adjacent to but spaced from the top of said chamber, a multiplicity of closely-spaced transverse air passages substantially throughout the flat surface of the cooling unit, a drip collector below said cooling unit, a water pan adjacent the bottom of said chamber, means for conducting the moisture from the drip collector to the'wate'r pan, a duct communicating with the lower portion of the chamber chamber and with the duct to prevent the passage of substantial quantities of air around the edges of the cooling unit.

ROBERT H. TULL. 

